to weigh, consider, reflect

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Monthly Archives: June 2012

My improved fitness has come at the expense of noodling around and taking photos. The whole motivation to sell my beloved A. Homer Hilsen and buy this nice MAP frame was to help me move toward more “sporting” rides. That has proven to be a success. I’ve been going farther and faster. But I haven’t been stopping as much and looking around. So the trade-off then is that I’ve only got one photo from today’s 4+ hour ride.

I’m enjoying the higher level of fitness. It should allow me to have more fun on those “noodling around” rides…if I’ll make sure to take them. Seems like it might be time for a micro-tour.

The United States Constitution was stabbed in the back and mortally wounded yesterday. It is tragically ironic that it’s blood is on the hand of our nation’s highest judicial branch official. But what should we expect from this court, who crippled the Constitution in 1973? They have not the common sense to provide justice to the most defenseless among us.

In a geography not known for hills, this little store sits at the bottom of one of the longer sustained descents around. I drop from a treeless hilltop grassland with expansive views to this shady spot. The contrast is startling. It’s a sleepy village setting where watercourses, and big ancient trees, gather like neighbors. I can’t help but stop here and soak in the quiet, the shade, and the fresh air before climbing back out to the windswept Wise County grasslands.

I don’t live in a rainy climate. I don’t commute. I don’t normally do long rides in the rain. I don’t take rides that last so long that the weather changes much.

They’re hard to install, make it harder to cram the bike behind the seat of my truck, and weigh more than nothing.

So why do I have fenders?

Look how low that front fender goes. Notice how much lower it is than the bottom bracket. I can’t go off a standard curb without bashing the bottom of the fender.

I guess I have been hoping that fenders might keep the bike a little cleaner on all those dusty gravel road rides. I guess I thought that if I hit the occasional mud puddle, maybe I wouldn’t have mud splattered all over me and I’d have less bike washing to do. I guess I thought that if I had fenders I would NOT have THIS…

I have everything I need for an all morning ride. I depart early, enjoy the outing, and eagerly anticipate a shower and lunch. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pondero leaves the house to run errands, and I return without a key to a locked house.

I sit on the front porch in the breezy shade and cool down. Craving food, I ponder eating the Clif bar tucked away in my bag. Ugh…not that desperate yet. Maybe if I take a couple of photos of the bike, Mrs. Pondero will return and I’ll get real food. She doesn’t return.

I realize that “no key” doesn’t mean “no transportation”. So I pedal about 3-4 more miles down to the nearest grill. I have me a perfect gas station cheeseburger, and think that being prepared is not always the best thing.

The Ponderer

Pondero on Instagram

Quote Corner

"A bike ride immerses us in the world around us, and in that moment life is just as it should be." - Mary Gersema

"Ride awake." - Association of Caffeinated Wheelmen

“As a recreation, [cycling] is in a class by itself, combining physical and intellectual pleasures in whatever proportions the cyclist himself may prefer. At one end of the scale, cycling is a real he-man’s sport; at the other it is the ideal recreation for the elderly philosopher who loves to potter around the country lanes.” - from the book “Cycling,” by R.C. Shaw, 1953.

"Instant coffee should only be sold in joke shops, next to the decaf."
- @tantandaylor on instagram

"The solution is to ride, and to do it on a bike you love."
- Tim Smith